Izraphel
Childhood Izraphel was born into Azthrall nobility but never knew the noble life. His parents abandoned him at the age of three in a burning building during a raid brought about by conflicts between the nobles and the working-class citizens. It was a turbulent era shortly following the demise of Zeomal. Following this, Izraphel ended up in the nearby Shanty Town. In his infancy he was never cared for. He learnt language from the soldiers in the local bar he slept outside. He lived off left-over waste from taverns and dead rodents; he drank from puddles and spilt rum... but by some miracle he survived into adolescence. At some point he got engaged in a fight with one of the soldiers from the tavern whom had spat on him on his way out. Izraphel broke both of his arms after a brief grapple. Impressed that a malnourished adolescent defeated a seasoned soldier, the onlookers of the conflict recommended him to the local military authorities who conscripted him into the military. Military Career Izraphel proved to be a fantastic warrior but a failure of a soldier. Even though he was a formidable combatant: five times more effective than his fellow soldiers, he often defied orders and broke formations, putting his own allies in jeopardy. After 58 years in the forces, he was nominated by his commander: Mezealguarde to be a candidate for the next Warlord. Mezealguarde admired Izraphel's passion for combat, his ruthless efficiency and his relentless attitude. He argued that, even though Izraphel was inept at tactics and discipline, he compensated in raw strength, willpower and the ability to motivate others with what the Azthrall interpreted to be Charisma. By now Izraphel, following a brief and basic military education, was literate and numerate to a small degree; with a few strings pulled by his commander and a few intense sessions of private tutoring, Izraphel passed the intelligence tests and was deemed barely smart enough to be a Warlord. Still he was considered thirty years too young to be a Warlord by most however Mezaelguarde pushed the motion until Garragon conceded. Meeting Siriti Siriti was a Skarn-Human Hybrid living in an Akaitohan village. At this time, Izraphel was 66 and had just become a Warlord. Siriti was only 23 at the time. Izraphel immediately took a liking to Siriti and offered to spare the village she was living in, in exchange for her. Siriti reluctantly accepted and became Izraphel's slave. At first, she was extremely hostile to Izraphel. When he made sexual advances on her, she resisted him firmly each time. Izraphel would often leave his tent in scratches and bruises. However, Izraphel never hit her back as he said: "She is too pretty to bruise, too flawless to scratch". Izraphel's men disliked the relationship because Siriti had Skarn heritage. The Azthrall and the Skarn were historically enemies and so Izraphel's twisted romance was seen as a betrayal against his own blood. Siriti's Manipulation Siriti was extremely intelligent, much more so than Izraphel. Within four years she had learned the Azkeeli language fluently and had met Izraphel's superior: Garragon. Garragon had agreed a deal with Siriti whereby if she would serve the Azthrall military as a specialist auxiliary unit for twenty years, she would earn her freedom. She was trained and assigned to Izraphel to serve as an espionage agent and negotiator. She was no longer Izraphel's slave. Her reports to Izraphel soon became talks about the Warlord's life and childhood. She realised that Izraphel had never been an evil person but rather one who had never been properly educated about morality. He was, in essence, a child. Following this epiphany, she used a combination of Operant Conditioning and strong verbal prompts to bestow upon Izraphel a basic moral foundation and to encourage him to reflect upon his actions. Siriti's sessions, over the course of five years gave Izraphel the facualties to make moral reflections and decisions. He began to question the commands of his superiors following this. Changing Sides It took Izraphel an additional five-years to desert the New Phoenix Empire. Izraphel had been morally wrestling for many years. He had begun to question and sometimes defy the commands given to him by Garragon and gradually, year by year, his defiance grew to the point where his position as Warlord was nearly revoked. The turning point came at the siege of Fort Layvian (a fortress supplied by Narak Vaar). Izraphel was looting the town within the fortress walls. Siriti had discussed with him that it would be the right moment to desert since the rest of the Azthrall convoy had been delayed by a horrendous storm. They would have a four-day head-start ahead of Garragon's forces. Izraphel and Siriti partnered up the night before the siege and infiltrated Fort Layvian. They located the fort commander and warned him of the attack. Izraphel even gave away his tactics to the fort commander. At first he was sceptical, but Izraphel turned it into a deal of sorts. The agreement was for all of the information on the oncoming attack but in exchange, the commander had to prepare supplies and a small ship for them to escape in. Izraphel agreed. They then returned to their camp. The attack commenced the next day. The fort was prepared for it and resisted it well; however, a squad of soldiers, led by Boriath, over-performed and managed to breach the fortress. They managed to break into the command-post of the fort where they were joined by Izraphel and Siriti. At that stage, Izraphel accused Boriath to be the one who leaked the plans to the fort commander. This caused mass confusion as Boriath, caught off-guard was impaled by Izraphel, falling out of the command-tower. In the ensuing chaos, Izraphel and Siriti escaped. The general had prepared a shabby transport vessel for them, however, it was a trap. The ship was surrounded by castle-guards. Izraphel and Siriti dispatched of them in an intense fight. Siriti was wounded in the left leg, Izraphel in the gut. The two clambered onto the boat and set sail. However, there was an assassin waiting on the boat for them. There was a brief struggle between the assassin and Izraphel but the latter survived. Against Garragon When Izraphel and Siriti arrived at Morealm, they travelled across Augen-Velt and landed at the Fairy Kingdom. They were captured and questioned. Izraphel was revealed to be an Azthrall Warlord at which point King Epsil wished to execute him personally. Luckily for Izraphel, Epsil sent word to Zagatos beforehand who agreed to interrogate Izraphel personally. Zagatos arrived five days later and began two days of intense interrogation. Izraphel confessed to his many war-crimes and these were recorded. Siriti then interrupted the interrogations to vouch for Izraphel and provide evidence for his goal. Following Siriti's arguments and Epsil's close analysis, it was concluded that Izraphel had indeed turned against Garragon and should be offered a chance to fight back against his former superiors. Zagatos then took Izraphel across Morealm to Narak Vaar whilst Siriti was left to take refuge at the Fairy-Kingdom. During that time Izraphel and Zagatos met and briefly travelled with Azren who would later be a pivotal part in the defeat of Garragon. They taught him more advanced Gonwana techniques during their time together. Izraphel arrived at Narak Vaar where he was placed on a powerful strike team that would infiltrate Garragon's Fortress and end the war by executing all of the Warlords. However, the plans were set back due to Garragon's forces invading the Narak Dominion. Izraphel was used as an assassin during this time: killing Azthrall executives that had landed on the country. The strike-team consisted of Izraphel, Zagatos, Avarytya, Epsil, Seralli, Nemorian, Anzhelm, Brontei, Ocaria and the twins of the Hyrundale Family. The operation was known as: "Phoenix Slayer".